Remember those old gangster movies when the cops would trap the bad guys in their hideout and yell at them: “We’ve got you surrounded! Come out with your hands up!”

That’s been trainer Todd Pletcher’s approach to this year’s Triple Crown prep races. Going into last weekend, 3-year-olds from Pletcher’s well-stocked stable had won the Sham (Ravel), the Sam F. Davis (Any Given Saturday), the Fountain of Youth (Scat Daddy) and Hutcheson (King of the Roxy). Saturday, Pletcher added two more notches to his gun, taking Aqueduct’s Grade 3 Gotham with Cowtown Cat and saddling Circular Quay to win the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) is probably the most serious of Pletcher’s myriad Triple Crown contenders. Last year, the stretch-running son of 1985 Derby-Belmont Stakes-Travers winner Thunder Gulch won his first three starts, including Saratoga’s Grade 1 Hopeful, then was second in both the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

In his first start this year, Circular Quay – who has been favored in each of his seven starts – was 6-5 in the Feb. 10 Risen Star. After dropping far back, as usual, under John Velazquez, he was making a strong inside move when a horse clipped heels and stumbled badly in front of him at the top of the stretch, unseating his rider and almost going down. Circular Quay had to take up sharply, losing all chance, but still came running again for fifth.

In the Louisiana Derby, Circular Quay was last early in the field of eight, circled them around the far turn, then took advantage of Fair Grounds’ long stretch to run down pace-setter Ketchikan and draw clear to score by 21/4 lengths – his first win since the Sept. 4 Hopeful. He ran the mile-and-a-sixteenth in a decent 1:43.

“He didn’t redeem himself as much as the fact that he got a good trip,” Pletcher said. “He was probably the best horse last time (in the Risen Star). Thank goodness he came out of it in one piece.

“This was his natural running style, to run in the back of the pack and come with a late run. Early speed helps. I think he’s shown from Day 1 that he’s among the best of his generation. He’s never disappointed us. We’ll see what’s next, possibly the Wood Memorial (April 7 at Aqueduct).”

Ketchikan ran a nice race making just the fourth start of his career and the first past a mile; can’t see him staying much beyond that. Zanjero, third in the Risen Star, rallied for third again. He’s bred to go long and seems like the type of grinder who can suck up late to round out the Derby trifecta or super.

The big bust in the Louisiana Derby was California invader Liquidity, second choice at 5-2, who chased the early pace under Corey Nakatani, then backed up late to finish sixth.

The Gotham, run at a mile-and-a-sixteenth over the Big A’s inner dirt track, was the first time Cowtown Cat, third in his previous start as the favorite in Gulfstream Park’s Feb. 3 Swale at 6½ furlongs, raced around two turns. Ridden by Ramon Dominguez, the $1.5 million son of Distorted Humor saved ground tracking the early pace, split horses in a bold move at the top of the stretch, then ran down 13-1 shot Wafi City inside the final sixteenth to win by 2½ lengths in 1:44.3.